A 21-Day Challenge to a Stronger Faith

My family and I were watching the animated movie “Prince of Egypt” a few nights ago. If you aren’t familiar with it, it tells the story of Moses from the time he was a baby in a basket until he led God’s people out of Egypt. (It uses some artistic license and fudges on a few details, but is basically the true story and is a very entertaining movie, with a fabulous soundtrack.) When it got to the part about the burning bush, I turned to my husband and said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could receive messages from God that clearly?”

As I thought later about that statement, I began to see that maybe He was giving me those clear messages, even if the shrubbery wasn’t on fire.

In my first blog post, When Faith Takes Over for Fear, I shared about how I had turned in a long notice at my job and would be leaving full-time work in May to work at home so I could be with my son. Friends, it is getting very close to the time when that will happen, and there hasn’t been the big miracle or revelation from God that answers our financial uncertainties. I really thought it would happen by now. We are now down to three weeks. That’s it. That’s 21 days until I wake up on Monday morning with a whole new adventure ahead of me.

But let me tell you what God has (clearly) been showing me.

In another blog post a couple of weeks ago, called Being Audacious, I shared about how I wanted to pray boldly for what we needed. I quoted Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” 

Yesterday in church, our pastor preached from John 15 and one verse in particular stuck out to me: John 15:7 – “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Then in our Bible Fellowship class (aka Sunday School), our teacher talked about Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Are you sensing a theme here? Because it slapped me right in the face. These are what are called condition-promise verses at the ministry where I work now. God will give us so much, certainly everything we need, but there is a condition.

Delight in Him…

Abide in Him…

Seek first His kingdom…

[Tweet “Delight in Him…Abide in Him…Seek first His kingdom… #shewhohasbelieved #strongerfaith”]

So in this next 21 days, I am challenging myself to do these things. I know God is going to provide in ways I could never imagine. But I’m going to try even harder to delight in Him, abide in Him, and seek Him first.

Here is how:

• Dig into Scripture every day (this can be a struggle, especially on busier days).
• Write and meditate on that Scripture every day.
• Pray boldly, not just for my circumstances, but for the people around me, many of whom are facing much harsher situations than I am.
• Be content with and thankful for all that I already have.
• Refrain from crunching numbers, looking at the budget, or worrying about how it’s all going to work out. Just trust Him instead. (This one might be the hardest to accomplish.)

What about you? Is there something weighing on you that you need to challenge yourself to give to God completely and fully? Do you need a jump start in your quiet time? Is God speaking clearly to you about something – maybe not in a burning bush, but in a very noticeable way?

I’m ready to let Him strengthen my faith and trust – to delight, abide and seek. Are you?

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I wanted to share a book with you that transformed my prayer life several years back. (In fact, I’m planning on reading it again in this next 21 days.) It is The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian. I can’t tell you what an amazing resource it has been for me. And it’s available on Christianbook.com in paperback for only $8.49. I hope you’ll check it out, along with some of her other books, such as The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent.

The Power of a Praying Woman By Stormie Omartian

This post was shared on the Christian Marriage and Motherhood Facebook Link Up.

(All Scripture references are from the NASB.)